It’s Saturday – we’re working outside…

The weekend is here and it’s going to be pretty hot in Minnesota. Heat doesn’t stop the yard work!

This week we got a little more work done on our shade element. Our contractor put in the bamboo screen and set the top bar support for the rays. He’s going to be working on another site next week, so it looks like July to finish this shade pergola.

6.17.2016 TJU construction has been doing a lot of projects around our property the last five years. While I don’t know if he loves these garden projects – he does a great job!6.17.2016 Bamboo screen completed in less than an hour.

Today two of our koi were sold. With Natsumi coming home and two Konishi karashigoi on their way, we needed to make room. The Riddler is a nice sanke and perhaps the sumi will come in stronger over the next two years. Chinook is just a very smart, piggy koi. I prefer the redder toned koi so these were natural choices to give up.

The Riddler (sanke) and Chinook (shusui) are heading to a new home. (The tub is 22 inches in diameter.)

Haven’t been to the garden center in two weeks but we decided to look for some Smokebush shrubs and something to fill a space leading to the lower pool. We found a Shiloh Splash Birch, not on Howie’s approved plant list but I thought it was a nice transitional birch. I bet the deer will like it as well…we looked around for some Hedge Cotoneaster but couldn’t find any. I don’t think it looks good in google images but the plants Howie has suggested have all looked really nice. The Hedge Cotoneaster is for the way back area of the backyard.

6.18.2016 Shiloh Splash Birch

All the koi seem happy with the move. I’m hoping that the pond digger will go swimming tomorrow and catch Luigi and August. I’d like both small koi to go to the lower pond.

6.18.2016 Miyu is still queen of the Upper Pond.6.18.2016 The larger shiro utsuris have been moved to the upper pond. Sumiko and Ika love it.6.19.2016 Upper Pond koi under the net.

So we’ll be spending the rest of the weekend doing all sorts of little tasks around the pond and yard.

Landscaping around the filter pit cover is complete.The backyard is looking pretty good.

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About me…

I grew up in Southern California and graduated from the United States Military Academy (West Point) in 1982. I was commissioned a military intelligence officer and served with XVIII ABN Corps (Fort Bragg, NC), 82d ABN Div (Fort Bragg, NC) and 42d FA Bde (Germany). I hold a master's degree in early childhood special education and an administrative endorsement in educational supervision.

I moved to Minnesota in 2010 and married a man who happens to enjoy digging holes and constructing waterfalls. I envision that every spring and summer will be spent puttering around a koi pond. Aside from koi, I enjoy starting random hobbies (trapeze lessons, pottery, sumi-e), gardening, reading a good book, drinking tea and a thousand other things that won't fit into this text box.

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